Desert solitude and family weddings

Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada is quite the incredible desert environment. I always think of David Attenborough when I'm in harsh ecosystems....I can practically hear him saying in his wonderful accent "even in this dry and hot environment....there is life." The film would cut to flowers, insects, and good ol' David crawling on the sand. Of course, he is right. Life evolved the most amazing capabilities for living in tough environments (these desert species make humans look like serious wimps). It was awesome to spend a day and night in the desert tracking down the plants, birds, mammals, and insects in this inspiring place.

We came to Nevada to reunite with my father's family from Michigan. I had not seen my cousins in about a decade. My two cousin's kids had grown up and we were headed to Vegas for one of their weddings. I'm not much of a city person, but the desert is always a huge draw for me. So we booked our flights with two extra days, landed in Vegas, picked up our rental car and got the heck out of the city so we could fry like eggs in the wild sun. We arrived in the park late at night in the dark and pitched our tent under the stars. The desert heat was much more successful than my alarm clock at dragging my ass out of bed in the morning. Thus, we got an early start to the day thanks to the high temperatures in the tent.

Bighorn sheep!! BIGHORN SHEEP PEOPLE! Do you hear me!? I went searching for these last year in Joshua Tree with no success (you can read about that here). And then Jay and I drive around a corner in the desert early in the morning and there they were! Totally unexpected! I practically fainted in excitement because there were not one, but TWO bighorn sheep. YES!

 Big male beauties blending right into their environment

 New bird for us! Black-tailed gnatcatcher - male in breeding plumage

This is a tarantula hawk wasp. This crazy huge insect delivers the second most painful insect sting in the world. We didn't know that when we approached to take photos - it pays to be naive. Why the name? Well, the bad ass wasps actually preys upon real tarantulas. Crazy. Could life be more awesome?

 Amazing desert colors. If only we had been here in low evening light! 

 Hot and happy

The petroglyphs in the park were incredible and gorgeous. But this series really caught my eye - are these bighorn sheep gaining weight?? Pregnant??

Stunning

 Quick change! The Barbers and one Dimond take on Vegas for a wedding.

My cousin Erin, Jerica (cousin-in-law), Gemma (Daniel's sister), and cousin Stephanie

 My cousin Todd and his daughter, Chelsea

 The happy couple!

 Daniel, Chelsea, and me

Father-daughter dance....

Could they be more adorable?

It seems that no matter where we go with Diane Barber, a ferris wheel appears that we HAVE to go on. I wasn't thrilled about the idea but in the end, I'll admit, it was kinda cool to be up there.

 Looking down on Vegas

Our family time ended the next day after we all had breakfast as a group at a restaurant with insanely large portions. Although our time together was super short, it was lovely to see almost everyone (we were missing my cousin Troy and my uncle Rollie), meet new significant others, and get quick updates all of their lives. My younger cousins (technically my first cousins once removed) are all done with high school or college now, have great partners, and are doing such good things with their lives. It was also lovely to meet other members of the Self family and discuss Michigan craft brews, among other things!

Instead of spending the day on the crowded Vegas strip after breakfast, Jay and I headed back to our resort with my parents to get some exercise and pool time. That evening we ventured back onto (into?) the big strip and hit up a nice Italian restaurant that had fantastic food and the largest pepper grinder ever?

Jay and I flew back to Washington the next day and my parents stayed south to check out some national parks. They took this photo at Bryce Canyon and I think it must be my new favorite.... true love 49 years after their marriage. Daniel and Chelsea are just getting started on that awesome road. I hope their smiles are as big as my parent's smiles 49 years later. I bet they will be!

All my May photos are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/May2015?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOgitaP2YzgwgE  Desert and Vegas photos are at the bottom of the album......